Sleep.

The truth is, readers, I just ain't getting any!  And this isn't doing me any favors in the "beauty sleep" department.
So, are any of us out there getting enough sleep?  A casual ask-around of friends and family members (or a quick read of Facebook status updates) reveals some contradictory information to a 2007 study of Women's Sleep Habits, compiled by the "National Sleep Foundation".  (By the way, could you imagine working there?   Must be awkward at cocktail parties: "Hi, nice to meet you, Peter.  What do you do?" "I work for the National Sleep Foundation."  "Oh.  Sounds.  Interesting.  Oh, look, I think I have to refresh my wife's drink...")
So, this 2007 survey of women shows that most women claim to get 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours of sleep per night.  Depending on age, some women fall asleep earlier in the evening, some later, but the waking time is, on average, 8 hours later.  Are they lying?  Just so they look "good" to the Sleep Foundation?  I only say this because I know a LOT of people who report that they have insomnia (which technically is "having trouble falling asleep".  Perhaps once they get to sleep, they stay there for 8 hours) or say they are tired.
A closer look at the statistics shows that nearly 30 percent of the women say they are getting a good night of sleep "only a few nights per month".  Aha!  So, you may be asleep, but it's not a good, deep, restful sleep.  This is probably the case with me.  I think I pretty much consistently log in between 6 and 7 hours a night:  bed around 11, wake around 6.  (Thanks, kids)  I used to be a staunch "10 pm lights out" kinda girl, but now that we have Netflix through the Wii, I find myself trying to squeeze in just one more episode of Weeds (they are only 23 minutes, afterall...) so I'm a little later to bed.
Nevertheless, despite my 6 or 7 hours, I still feel exhausted by the time I wake in the morning.  I feel stiff and sore (even questioning whether I have the stamina for a yoga practice today!), figuring "Maybe I just overdid it on the mat yesterday, and I need a day to 'recover'".  Who am I kidding.  I did YOGA.  Not run a Marathon.  Yoga is supposed to help calm and relax the body/mind, readying it for an introspective meditation.  But I never take that introspection, now that I think about it.  I finish my Savasana, roll up my mat, and bolt from the studio to drive my kids to camp/playdate/where ever.  Hmmm... Maybe there's something to this...
So, the Sleep Foundation says that a good night of sleep is vital to our Health and Well-being.  All mammals need sleep.  It regulates mood, and is related to learning and memory.  Regular, quality sleep helps you to recharge your battery so you can learn new skills, stay on task, and be productive (huh!  Maybe I should print this out to share with my 8th graders right around their assessments!).  Sleep is a critical factor in health, weight, and energy, and it is recommended that you get 7-9 hours per night.  Wow.  Mention health and weight, and you have my attention (she who has gained 5 pounds since the start of summer, damn Mojitos and Caipirhinas!)  Speaking of which, Alcohol does not help the cause, in case you were wondering.  You might feel sleepy, but it won't help you sleep any better and your sleep won't be any more restful.
So what do I need to do?  Well, for starters, Husband and I are getting a new bed.  We're stepping it up a notch by going from a full to a queen.  We have nightly visits from a certain 4 year old who likes to sleep sideways on our lumpy full-sized mattress, despite the fact that his twin mattress is the newest and most comfortable in the house!  Will having more room and a newer, less lumpy mattress help the cause?  We'll see.  It takes a while for the bed to get the appropriate upholstery and be shipped to us, so you may have to be patient before I report back tangible results.  For now, I think I may just need to honor a meditation after my asana today (and the next day).
Patience gives the power to practice; practice gives the power that leads to perfection - from my teabag this morning.

Rantsy Pants

  I know this blog is supposed to be all about Yoga and living a balanced life and whatnot, but today I just got a little bee in my bonnet.  I have a little rant going on, and my 120 characters on Twitter and 2-liner status updates just don't provide enough room for me to explain myself properly.  I decided to take advantage of my blog to vent.  I suppose I could rationalize that since I usually try to be calm, quiet, and advocate some peace, if I rant on here now and again, it technically is "balancing" things out. Plus, the subject of my rant does Yoga, so technically, she's relevant.  By the way, if I'm not ranting enough for you (and you may want to reserve judgement on that until you finish reading this post), you can always head over to my husband's blog, where he certainly rants enough for 3 blogs:  This Annoys Me

So, this morning, Husband wakes up and cracks open the iPad (which I received as an awesomely unexpected, absolutely delightful Mother's Day gift way back in May...however, the boys in my life seem to take advantage of its magic far more often than I do...don't get me started, or this blog may need to be re-titled "This Annoys Me in the Suburbs" - although I'm fairly certain that blog already exists.)  I digress....

So, my husband starts browsing IMDB for upcoming theatrical releases and points out a bunch of flicks he thinks I'll be keen on seeing.  Number one on the list:  Sherlock Holmes, part2 (Uhm, helloooo?  Jude Law?  Robert Downey Jr.?  As you can see, Husband should have been a brain surgeon with his overwhelming amounts of genius).  Number two:  Hugo (again with Jude Law).  Then, he mentions "Contagion", which has Marion Cotillard.  I'll see anything with Marion Cotillard in it.  She's like my biggest girl-crush ever...not because I want to get with her.  It's because I want to BE her.  Jude Law is also in this one.  Gosh this guy has been busy since that whole Nanny scandal.  I guess he has loads of free time these days.  Then husband says "Oh, but it has Gwyneth Paltrow in it."  The Marion factor far outweighs any negative impact that the Gwyneth factor brings, but it set me off.  I'm sooooooo annoyed by Gwyneth Paltrow.  And it takes a lot to get me that annoyed.

So what, you ask, could this amazing, tow-headed, Jill-of-all-Trades have done to send me into a rant?  She acts (Oscar winner, there, folks!).  She does Yoga (just look at those long limbs!).  She has no crow's feet (a recent tabloid article claims she's had botox to eliminate them, however, I'm calling false on that one, because she's my age, and I don't have crow's feet either, and I certainly don't have $300 at my disposal to inject Botulism TOXIN into my face.  She must be lucky enough to have fabulous outer-ocular skin, just like me.)  She blogs (hey, maybe I should be looking up to her instead of dissing her!).  She sings (ahem).  She's written a fucking cookbook. 

I'm sure several hundred people have already seen the irony in this (and blogged about it).  Gwyneth Paltrow, she of the "raw foods", "macro-biotic", "I cleanse for 2 weeks before every movie shoot" diet has written a cookbook. 
W.
T.
F.

The first recipe is for some secret family recipe for these amazing buttermilk pancakes her dad made every Sunday morning.  I know this not because I bought the damn thing, but because there was a magazine article highlighting Gwyneth's latest triumph in publishing this damn cookbook.  Yes, I just used "damn" twice in one sentence.  The whole concept of her writing a cookbook is about as preposterous as that food tour she took around Spain with Mario Batali a year or two back.  Laughable.  He of the robust waistline and love of olive oil, travelling with she of the "how long do I have to run on the treadmill if I eat one of your marinated olives?"

Should I waste even one more sentence on this chick?  Probably not.